Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and Maritime Boundaries; Notice of Limits By Presidential Proclamation No. 5030 made on March 10, 1983, the United States established an exclusive economic zone, the outer limit of which is a line drawn in such a manner that each point on it is 200 nautical miles from the baseline from which the breadth of the territorial sea is measured. The U.S. EEZ is the largest in the world, containing 3.4 million square miles of ocean and 90,000 miles of coastline. The Government of the United States of America has been, is, and will be, engaged in consultations and negotiations with governments of neighboring countries concerning the delimitation of areas subject to the respective jurisdiction of the United States and of these countries. The limits of the exclusive economic zone of the United States as set forth below are intended to be without prejudice to any negotiations with these countries or to any positions which may have been or may be adopted respecting the limits of maritime jurisdiction in such areas. Further, the limits of the exclusive economic zone set forth below are without prejudice to the outer limit of the continental shelf of the United States where that shelf extends beyond 200 nautical miles from the baseline in accordance with international law.

Purpose:

The purpose of this data layer is to provides a general basemap showing the extent of the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone.

The EEZ consists of those areas adjoining the territorial sea of the U.S., the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and U.S. overseas territories and pssessions. The EEZ extends up to 200 nautical miles (370 km) from the U.S. coastline. About 15 percent of this area lies on the geologic continental shelf and is shallower than 200 meters. Within its EEZ, the U.S. has sovereign rights over all living and non-living resources. Other nations may exercise freedom of vessel navigation and overflight within the U.S. EEZ (Source: Year of the Ocean Discussion Papers 1998; 2nd Ed. of Coastal and Ocean Law by Kalo et al. 1994).

Supplemental_Information:

The following is provided verbatum from the Federal Register: [Federal Register: August 23, 1995 (Volume 60, Number 163)][Notices][Page 43825-43829]

From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov][DOCID:fr23au95 113]DEPARTMENT OF STATE[Public Notice 2237] Exclusive Economic Zone and Maritime Boundaries; Notice of Limits By Presidential Proclamation No. 5030 made on March 10, 1983, the United States established an exclusive economic zone, the outer limit of which is a line drawn in such a manner that each point on it is 200 nautical miles from the baseline from which the breadth of the territorial sea is measured. The Government of the United States of America has been, is, and will be, engaged in consultations and negotiations with governments of neighboring countries concerning the delimitation of areas subject to the respective jurisdiction of the United States and of these countries. The limits of the exclusive economic zone of the United States as set forth below are intended to be without prejudice to any negotiations with these countries or to any positions which may have been or may be adopted respecting the limits of maritime jurisdiction in such areas. Further, the limits of the exclusive economic zone set forth below are without prejudice to the outer limit of the continental shelf of the United States where that shelf extends beyond 200 nautical miles from the baseline in accordance with international law. The following notices have been published which have defined the United States maritime boundaries and fishery conservation zone established March 1, 1977: Public Notice 506, Federal Register, Vol.41, No. 214, November 4, 1976, 48619-20; Public Notice 526, Federal Register, Vol. 42, No. 44, March 7, 1977, 12937-40; Public Notice 544, Federal Register, Vol. 42, No. 92, May 12, 1977, 24134; Public Notice 4710-01, Federal Register, Vol. 43, No. 7, January 11, 1978, 1658; Public Notice 585, Federal Register, Vol. 43, No. 7, January 11, 1978,1659; Public Notice 910, Federal Register, Vol. 49, No. 155, August 9,1984, 31973. This Public Notice supersedes all limits defined in the above Public Notices. Therefore, the Department of State on behalf of the Government of the United States hereby announces the limits of the exclusive economic zone of the United States of America, within which the United States will exercise its sovereign rights and jurisdiction as permitted under international law, pending the establishment of permanent maritime boundaries by mutual agreement in those cases where a boundary is necessary and has not already been agreed. Publication of a notice on this subject which is effective immediately upon publication is necessary to effectively exercise the foreign affairs responsibility of the Department of State. (See Title 5U.S.C. 553 (a)(1)(B).)

THE DATA INCLUDED IN THIS APPLICATION ARE BASED ON INTERPRETATION OF AVAILABLE INFORMATION AND SHOULD NOT BE CONSTRUED AS LEGALLY BINDING.

Public domain data from the U.S. Government are freely redistributable with proper metadata and source attribution. Please recognize the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Special Projects Office as the source of this information.

The Arc/Info export file contains the extent of the US Exclusive Economic Zone and was downloaded from NOAA's anonymous ftp site.

Process_Step:

Process_Description:

The useez.e00 file was imported to create a ARC/INFO 7.x coverage.

Source_Used_Citation_Abbreviation: useez.e00

Process_Date: 20020521

Process_Time: 0643

Source_Produced_Citation_Abbreviation: useez

Process_Contact:

Contact_Information:

Contact_Person_Primary:

Contact_Person: Valerie Paskevich

Contact_Organization: U.S. Geological Survey

Contact_Position: Computer Specialist

Contact_Address:

Address_Type: mailing and physical address

Address: 384 Woods Hole Road

City: Woods Hole

State_or_Province: MA

Postal_Code: 02543-1598

Country: USA

Contact_Voice_Telephone: (508) 548-8700 x2281

Contact_Facsimile_Telephone: (508) 457-2310

Contact_Electronic_Mail_Address: vpaskevich@usgs.gov

Process_Step:

Process_Description:

The Arc/Info coverage was edited to close the gap in the Alaska boundary. The edited file was then converted to the shapefile.

Source_Used_Citation_Abbreviation: useez

Process_Date: 20020521

Process_Time: 0655

Source_Produced_Citation_Abbreviation: useez.dbf

Source_Produced_Citation_Abbreviation: useez.shp

Source_Produced_Citation_Abbreviation: useez.shx

Source_Produced_Citation_Abbreviation: useez.sbn

Source_Produced_Citation_Abbreviation: useez.sbx

Process_Contact:

Contact_Information:

Contact_Person_Primary:

Contact_Person: Valerie Paskevich

Contact_Organization: U.S. Geological Survey

Contact_Position: Computer Specialist

Contact_Address:

Address_Type: mailing and physical address

Address: 384 Woods Hole Road

City: Woods Hole

State_or_Province: MA

Postal_Code: 02543-1598

Country: USA

Contact_Voice_Telephone: (508) 548-870 x2281

Contact_Facsimile_Telephone: (508) 457-2310

Contact_Electronic_Mail_Address: vpaskevich@usgs.gov

Process_Step:

Process_Description:

The geographic reference of the shapefile was defined to create an associated 'prj' file.

Source_Used_Citation_Abbreviation: useez.shp

Process_Date: 20020521

Process_Time: 0704

Source_Produced_Citation_Abbreviation: useez.prj

Process_Contact:

Contact_Information:

Contact_Person_Primary:

Contact_Person: Valerie Paskevich

Contact_Organization: U.S. Geological Survey

Contact_Position: Computer Specialist

Contact_Address:

Address_Type: mailing and physical address

Address: 384 Woods Hole Road

City: Woods Hole

State_or_Province: MA

Postal_Code: 02543-1598

Country: USA

Contact_Voice_Telephone: (508) 548-8700 x2281

Contact_Facsimile_Telephone: (508) 457-2310

Contact_Electronic_Mail_Address: vpaskevich@usgs.gov

Process_Step:

Process_Description:

The fields (USEEZ_SHP_) that were carried over from the ArcInfo export file were deleted. The fields were not necessary for use in the ArcView shapefile. The field names, which were identifical for the first 10 characters, were flagged as duplicate fields.

Source_Used_Citation_Abbreviation: useez.dbf

Source_Used_Citation_Abbreviation: useez.shp

Source_Used_Citation_Abbreviation: useez.shx

Process_Date: 20030522

Process_Time: 0740

Source_Produced_Citation_Abbreviation: useez.dbf

Source_Produced_Citation_Abbreviation: useez.shp

Source_Produced_Citation_Abbreviation: useez.shx

Process_Contact:

Contact_Information:

Contact_Person_Primary:

Contact_Person: Valerie Paskevich

Contact_Organization: U.S. Geological Survey

Contact_Position: Information Specialist/GIS Coordinator

Contact_Address:

Address_Type: mailing and physical address

Address: 384 Woods Hole Road

City: Woods Hole

State_or_Province: MA

Postal_Code: 02543-1598

Country: USA

Contact_Voice_Telephone: (508) 548-8700 x2281

Contact_Facsimile_Telephone: (508) 457-2310

Contact_Electronic_Mail_Address: vpaskevich@usgs.gov

Spatial_Data_Organization_Information:

Direct_Spatial_Reference_Method: Vector

Point_and_Vector_Object_Information:

SDTS_Terms_Description:

SDTS_Point_and_Vector_Object_Type: String

Point_and_Vector_Object_Count: 228

Spatial_Reference_Information:

Horizontal_Coordinate_System_Definition:

Geographic:

Latitude_Resolution: 0.00001

Longitude_Resolution: 0.00001

Geographic_Coordinate_Units: Decimal degrees

Geodetic_Model:

Horizontal_Datum_Name: North American Datum of 1983

Ellipsoid_Name: Geodetic Reference System 80

Semi-major_Axis: 6378137.000000

Denominator_of_Flattening_Ratio: 298.257222

Entity_and_Attribute_Information:

Detailed_Description:

Entity_Type:

Entity_Type_Label: useez.dbf

Entity_Type_Definition: Shapefile Attribute Table

Entity_Type_Definition_Source: ESRI

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: FID

Attribute_Definition: Internal feature number.

Attribute_Definition_Source: ESRI

Attribute_Domain_Values:

Unrepresentable_Domain:

Sequential unique whole numbers that are automatically generated.

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: Shape

Attribute_Definition: Feature geometry.

Attribute_Definition_Source: ESRI

Attribute_Domain_Values:

Unrepresentable_Domain: Coordinates defining the features.

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: FNODE_

Attribute_Definition:

From-node identifier of linear feature carried over from Arc/Info processing and the Arc/Info attribute FNODE_. It is an ArcInfo internal control parameter and has not applicable relevance to the use of the data.

Attribute_Definition_Source: Software Computed

Attribute_Domain_Values:

Range_Domain:

Range_Domain_Minimum: 0

Range_Domain_Maximum: 11277

Attribute_Units_of_Measure: integer count

Attribute_Measurement_Resolution: 1

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: TNODE_

Attribute_Definition:

To-node identifier of linear feature carried over from Arc/Info processing and the Arc/Info attribute TNODE_. It is an ArcInfo internal control parameter and has not applicable relevance to the use of the data

Attribute_Definition_Source: Software Computed

Attribute_Domain_Values:

Range_Domain:

Range_Domain_Minimum: 0

Range_Domain_Maximum: 11276

Attribute_Units_of_Measure: integer count

Attribute_Measurement_Resolution: 1

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: LPOLY_

Attribute_Definition:

Internal number of polygon to left of arc carried over from Arc/Info processing and the Arc/Info attribute LPOLY_. It is an ArcInfo internal control parameter and has not applicable relevance to the use of the data

Attribute_Definition_Source: Software Computed

Attribute_Domain_Values:

Range_Domain:

Range_Domain_Minimum: 0

Range_Domain_Maximum: 0

Attribute_Units_of_Measure: integer count

Attribute_Measurement_Resolution: 1

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: RPOLY_

Attribute_Definition:

Internal number of polygon to right of arc carried over from Arc/Info processing and the Arc/Info attribute RPOLY_. It is an ArcInfo internal control parameter and has not applicable relevance to the use of the data.

Entity_and_Attribute_Overview: No Polygon attributes in the Exclusive Economic Zone geography

Distribution_Information:

Distributor:

Contact_Information:

Contact_Organization_Primary:

Contact_Organization: NOAA Special Projects Office

Contact_Person: Steve Rohmann

Contact_Address:

Address_Type: mailing and physical address

Address: SSMC-4 9th Floor

Address: 1305 East-West Highway

City: Silver Spring

State_or_Province: MD

Postal_Code: 20910

Country: USA

Contact_Voice_Telephone: (301) 713-3000 x137

Contact_Electronic_Mail_Address: steve.rohmann@noaa.gov

Resource_Description: Downloadable Data

Distribution_Liability:

Although this data set has been used by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), no warranty, expressed or implied, is made by the USGS as to the accuracy of the data and/or related materials. The act of distribution shall not constitute any such warranty, and no responsibility is assumed by the USGS in the use of these data or related materials.

These data are available in Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI) shapefile format. The user must have ArcGIS® or ArcView® 3.0 or greater software to read and process the data file. In lieu of ArcView or ArcGIS, the user may utilize another GIS application package capable of importing data. A free data viewer, arcexplorer, capable of displaying the data is available from ESRI at www.esri.com.